By Patrick Stephen Tokpah (patrickstokpah10@gmail.com)
Gbarnga, Bong County – Presidential aspirant and former President of Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA), Cllr. Taiwan Saye Gongloe has extolled the Liberian Senate for scratching the US30k Legislative Engagement Fund.
Senators on Thursday, January 13, 2022, reportedly demanded members of the Ways, Means, and Finance Committee to remove from the Draft National Budget line items under the Legislative Operation Funds to prevent them from receiving US$ 30k in this year’s Budget.
The decision by the Senators to accept US$30k in last year’s Budget amid a harsh economy though it was allotted in the National Budget, drew public condemnations, with many accusing the senators of being “selfish” and “insensitive to the plights of Liberians”.
However, according to Cllr. Gongloe, the decision by the Liberian Senate comes following serious engagement and condemnations from Liberians on the usage of the mentioned amount by lawmakers.
He said there is or was a complete lack of transparency over the usage of the first US30K received by lawmakers.
The presidential hopeful [Cllr. Gongloe] in the ensuring 2023 general and presidential elections alleged that lack of transparency on the usage of the money, saying some lawmakers misused the money for its intended purpose…
“Sadly many of the lawmakers could not even make a report or say what the money was used for,” Cllr. Google stressed.
He continued: “If you do the mathematics on the 30k among the one hundred and three Lawmakers you will be getting three hundred ninety United States Dollars (US$3090,000) that was wastefully spent on 103 Lawmakers, noting the money was wastefully spent because there is no accountability for the usage of the money Liberia Anti-corruption and the General Auditing Commission can not the Lawmakers so that was a wasteful spending by the government.”
He continues: “this three hundred and ninety United States Dollars would have been used to open farm-to-market roads, build clinics, or buy drugs for the various health centers here, but was given to 103 Lawmakers to enjoy themselves with it in the Country.”
The former LNBA president said the US$30K for Legislative Engagement Fund was despicable and embarrassing to citizens, adding, “You have hospitals without medications, students can barely afford to be in school and businesses are collapsing due to economic hardship, a handful of people can keep milking the country on such industrial scale.”
He said he is hoping that the House of Representatives can do the same by scratching the US30k Legislative Engagement Fund.
Cllr. Gongloe recently accepted a petition to contest the presidency of Liberia on the ticket of the opposition Liberian People Party (LPP).
Presidential aspirants named corruption, mainly in the public sector, remains one of the main reasons responsible for the backwardness of Liberia and its citizens.
He observed that from decades to decades the menace has deprived Liberia and its citizens of the benefits deserved.
He said the high level of disrespect for the rule of law and lack of patriotism among citizens; particularly public officials remain contributing factors towards the increase in corruption in the country.
Cllr. Gongloe made these comments on January 14, 2022, in Gbarnga, Bong County in an interview with journalists.
Comments are closed.